A couple years ago, Red decided that any flooring that isn't carpet or cement is slippery (after he ran like a lunatic over hardwood once and fell and hurt himself). Now he treats any similar flooring like Bambi on ice, and when he walks like that, he makes himself slip even more.

Its become almost an irrational fear for him, and its actually gotten to the point that its hurt our relationship a little because he has knocked me down a couple times and I've gotten hurt - obviously not on purpose, but because he acts like a fool on the floors. But now that's I'm pregnant, I can't take the chance of having him knock me down.

I've done loads of positive training with him on the floors, which seems to help only temporarily, then he's right back to where he was an hour later. I've done all sorts of research and spent a lot of time and effort trying different training techniques and nothing has worked.

I can't (and not going to) cover our house in mats and rugs for him, because mainly I want him to be able to regain confidence and be able to go other places and be ok to walk on the floors, and not have to worry about him freaking out and knocking someone else down accidentally, or hurting himself.

I've bought expensive sock things with rubber grips, but he hates them and takes them right off, even when I tape them on.

I was thinking there has got to be some other kind of product, like wax or spray, that will make their paw pads tacky and less likely to slip on these types of floors.

You said you've done all kinds of training with him on the floors and that it only helps temporarily. Have you tried training exercises with him that help his confidence in general and exercises that work on the dog becoming more aware of their balance and footing/foot placement in general?

Maybe it would help more permanently and translate more broadly if you focused less on the object of his fear and more on how to give him a confidence boost (and make him more body conscious / self aware) that will indirectly translate to his mental relationship with the object. I could be wrong. It's just a thought.

For instance, in agility we work on wobble boards so the dog slowly becomes comfortable with the unsteady movement below their feet as well as the noise, we use ladders on the ground and ask the dog to walk through them following through straight off the end so they learn where their backend is in relation to their front feet and they become more conscious of rear foot placement. We work on a swing bridge for UKC agility equipment so the dog gains confidence crossing objects that are unsteady, sink beneath their feet, and they must take a few steps to get across safely. We work on plank boards so they get the feel for the dog walk, then raise it up off the ground so they understand how to balance properly and to place their feet under them for the most sure footing possible - and for larger dogs depending on how fast they move, this board will bounce and give a little under their weight. The teeter is great for the dog understanding balance and footing too.

Yeah I just thought someone might know if it actually worked or not. Guess I'll find out!

Quote:

Originally Posted by brw1982

For instance, in agility we work on wobble boards so the dog slowly becomes comfortable with the unsteady movement below their feet as well as the noise, we use ladders on the ground and ask the dog to walk through them following through straight off the end so they learn where their backend is in relation to their front feet and they become more conscious of rear foot placement. We work on a swing bridge for UKC agility equipment so the dog gains confidence crossing objects that are unsteady, sink beneath their feet, and they must take a few steps to get across safely. We work on plank boards so they get the feel for the dog walk, then raise it up off the ground so they understand how to balance properly and to place their feet under them for the most sure footing possible - and for larger dogs depending on how fast they move, this board will bounce and give a little under their weight. The teeter is great for the dog understanding balance

He's completely fine on uneven surfaces, things that move (like unsteady docks, etc), his fear is completely limited to slick flooring. I don't have regular access to all the agility equipment you mentioned and unfortunately I can't do classes right now, so I have tried everything that I can feasibly try training-wise myself, but it's all been pretty much useless.

I can't keep having this happen, so that's why I was looking at products to help.

Thanks for taking the time to reply, and for the food for thought

Quote:

Originally Posted by DogsR4Life

There are paw socks with rubber pads underneath. Made for puppies, injured, or senior dogs have better grip on the floor.

If you can't find anything, my store has it, I can get a pair for you and ship it.

Thanks, but like I said in my original post, I've tried those and they wouldn't keep them on

I have these bookmarked from when we had our GSD who had a hard time with slipping as she aged. But we ended up just using rug runners so I can't vouch for any of them, sorry. Let me know if you try any!

Olden days Coke the stuff you drink.
1st dog show I went to with my Bouvier working for a CD the stupid place waxed the cement floors dogs were sliding all over. people were using Coke a Cola like crazy.

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yep- I was just going to say i remember some book i read about the old school dog shows and handers using cola on the dog's feet to make them tacky. What if you started with a runner, but slowly shortened it until maybe only a foot or a few inches were left on the slippery floor? I really have no idea- just thinking out loud.

Hi had the same problem with Boris. I used to work for a large Merc dealership and took him in to meet everyone when he was a pup. He was charging around on the carpet area fine but when he got on the polished tiled floors he skidded and banged into one of the windows. He wasn't hurt just his pride.
But after this he hated any indoor flooring that wasn't carpeted. The bambi on ice look comes to mind when I picture him how he used to be.
We fed him whilst standing on runners then gradually moving his feed bowl onto the wooden floor.
We took it very slowly. A few inches at a time. If he got scared we moved it back until he gained confidence then proceeded again at a slow pace (over weeks).
With patience he was standing on the wooden floor and we just continued to move his bowl, making him walk.
Worked a treat.
My new house had quarry tiles and he is great on them no problem at all.

I use this at shows, it does the trick. I don't know if you'd want it on your floors in your home though. Or if it'd leave a residual behind. Any shows though I spray it on, hold the paw up thirty seconds to let it get tacky. In desperate measures I'll use coke it's extremely sticky. Sometimes will make a sticking sound, collects all the junk around (dog hair, trash). Plus I don't like the dogs licking it. It's late but if I remember mushers pad is tacky and would possibly help with the sliding.

One day last summer I found this wonderful product to make my floors look shiney and new, oh how they shone. They looked beautiful.
And what a mistake that turned out to be. My boys ended up slipping all over the place.

In the end, even though during the summer the cool tiles are the best thing since sliced bread etc I had to put runners down.

I know you say you don't want too, that you want him to gain confidence with regards slippy floors etc. But when needs must and I think needs must in this case a little runner won't harm. But it may do a world of good.

With regards the sticky feet thing, they are a great idea for shows etc, simply because you don't have to live with the possibility of it transfering onto your floor tiles or whatever you have and they go all tacky because of and stuff like lint and fluff starts to stick.

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I would use a sticky product, one of the ones Erica recommended. We had a dobe cross who freaked at the flooring. We did runners at first and then slowly made the runners further and further apart. I think you need to give him some runners, not the whole house but some so he can feel safe. His fear isn't rational and you need to understand it's a phobia and handle it slowly, with much care and runner will give him safe areas from slippery to safe, slippery to safe. I would say leash him and walk one step at a time but I know you are pregnant and if he slips you could get hurt again. So use some sticky stuff, which will mark your floors I think, another issue, use some runners and slowly reduce the distance between them. I like the person's idea with feeding him on a runner and slowly move it inches a day until he has one foot on the floor and so on with the sticky stuff on his feet.

The Show Foot product (and Tacky foot and similar products) all have one huge problem--they pick up stuff--at shows it would be dog hair and just plain dust and dirt until the dog had so much crap stuck to his foot that it became slippery.

Coke or any other soft drink with sugar in it sprayed on the bottom of the pads worked as well as anything--but it doesn't last long and sometimes leaves little sticky spots if it hasn't dried completely. Actuall even standing a dog on a wet towel long enough for his pads to absorb moisture will give better traction.

We had the same problem with Lexi. She was terrified of the tile floors, to the point of just freezing. Since she was a rescue, we had no idea of her previous life. I bought cheap runners from Walmart and put them down. She is now full of confidence, and runs through the house like a wild women. After 4 months, I picked up the runners. It was so bad, she would only come in the 2 sliders and stand on the carpet. No fear now.

Thanks for all the replies. For everyone talking about putting runners down everywhere, I had a runner down at one point and he'd walk on it, then I picked it up after awhile and he went right back to not wanting to walk on the tile again.
He's smart enough to know when the carpet isn't there. I don't want to band-aid the situation by just putting ugly runners everywhere (and I'm not going to), I want him to walk on the floors properly, hence any products that would give him enough traction to have confidence to walk across the floors as they are.

Thanks for all the replies on the products, I really appreciate it I might try those sticky pads things that bean posted. I didn't realize the sprays would leave sticky prints everywhere, so I probably won't want to do that

I saw a woman at my vet's office with these on her gaggle of little dogs. I thought they were some sort of bizarre fashion accessory given she had them all in clothes, but apparently they are supposed to help provide traction. I have no idea if they work or not, especially since none of the dogs were actually on the floor or required to walk -- she had them in a doggy stroller.

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I've used the spray and the musher's wax. Spray probably picks up less junk as the wax is quite greasy.
I have strategic runners on corner areas as my house is tile floors and the dogs zoom around like a herd of horses. I agree that the runner idea, gradually making the surface area smaller may do the trick to get him over his problem.

I saw a woman at my vet's office with these on her gaggle of little dogs. I thought they were some sort of bizarre fashion accessory given she had them all in clothes, but apparently they are supposed to help provide traction.

Cool! This is exactly the kind of product help I was looking for!
Never heard of these before - they kinda look like Soft Paws for cats nails. If they work, that would be awesome! I wonder how likely they are to fall off when he goes tearing around the yard lol

I saw a woman at my vet's office with these on her gaggle of little dogs. I thought they were some sort of bizarre fashion accessory given she had them all in clothes, but apparently they are supposed to help provide traction. I have no idea if they work or not, especially since none of the dogs were actually on the floor or required to walk -- she had them in a doggy stroller.

That's interesting, MOATS. I wonder how it would work with a Dobe with the more compact feet... Hmmm... I'd be really curious to hear someone's first-hand experience with them.

I used the Soft Paws for Henneh when she started dragging her back feet a bit to protect the nails. If you weren't careful they could dig in to the toe and cause irritation. Looks like these slip on and off and you could adjust them. Also look like they're more rubbery - the Soft Paws are still somewhat slick. I dont' believe they helped her traction at all.

Burns, please post a review once you give them a try. we've got a problem with the dog slipping in the kitchen while playing with the cats, and i'm sick of having runners that just end up dirty within 24 hours of being washed.

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I used the Soft Paws for Henneh when she started dragging her back feet a bit to protect the nails. If you weren't careful they could dig in to the toe and cause irritation. Looks like these slip on and off and you could adjust them. Also look like they're more rubbery - the Soft Paws are still somewhat slick. I dont' believe they helped her traction at all.

Yeah Soft Paws are like a hard plastic and I can't imagine they would lend any sort of increased traction. At least from the videos on the website, the Toe Grips look more soft rubbery, and you're not supposed to put them high near the nail bed so it shouldn't cause any irritation.

I wonder how it would work if the dog's nails are very short though?

Quote:

Originally Posted by falnfenix

Burns, please post a review once you give them a try. we've got a problem with the dog slipping in the kitchen while playing with the cats, and i'm sick of having runners that just end up dirty within 24 hours of being washed.

Will do I looked on the website under the "retailers near you" and found a couple vet clinics in my area that supposedly carry them.

That's interesting, MOATS. I wonder how it would work with a Dobe with the more compact feet...

Good question. I would think so long as the nail comes into contact with the ground, theoretically they should work...

The woman swore by them, especially for the elderly two, but as I said I did not see a single one of her dogs on the floor.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Burns

I wonder how it would work if the dog's nails are very short though?

If his nails are very short you might need to let them grown out a bit. I watched one of the videos and it sounds like the nail needs to be longer than the length of the toe grip so that it's not against the nail bed and that the tip of the nail exposed. Come to think of it, while it might be annoying for you, him having a bit more nail might help him anyway.

__________________ "Expect the worst and you won't be disappointed." - Helen MacInnes